Chapter 6: Overcome Pride, Cling to Humility

#57 The Difficulty of Pride

Discipleship Level 2: Reaching Beyond Mediocrity

By Paul J. Bucknell

#57 The Difficulty of Pride

Introduction

• Are you ready for the test of pride? Your test is coming! Let’s learn the hard and easy ways of going through these tests. Who knows? Perhaps, by God’s grace we can pass these tests and walk humbly before Him.

Hope for Us

If we are going to keep our hearts from pride and be able to turn from pride, it will not be easy, but by God’s grace it is not impossible. In the example below, we encounter a very proud man who humbled his heart.

In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill; and he prayed to the LORD, and the LORD spoke to him and gave him a sign. 25 But Hezekiah gave no return for the benefit he received, because his heart was proud; therefore wrath came on him and on Judah and Jerusalem. 26 However, Hezekiah humbled the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD did not come on them in the days of Hezekiah (2 Chron 32:24-26).

There are two major observations from this passage.

1) Hezekiah’s Heart Was Lifted Up (2 Chronicles 32:24-25).

He was prideful. The scripture states that Hezekiah “gave no return for the benefit he received, because his heart was proud.” God pinpointed the reason for his ungratefulness—pride. God healed him and saved him from death, but pride kept his heart from being grateful. His lack of gratefulness seemed to be

rooted in an arrogant thought: “God should never have let me get sick,” or “Of course He will heal me. I deserve it, I am the king.” Using my own words, Hezekiah disrespectfully said, “Well, it is about time you did something about that.”

Even if a person is about to die and is healed, he can still wrongly believe that he deserves it. Life and health is a gift from God. There is nothing more reproachful than a spoiled child 61

who gets what he or she demands and afterwards goes away in a huff, without a bit of appreciation. Notice the result, “Therefore wrath came on him and on Judah and Jerusalem.” Parents should be more thoughtful the next time they overlook their children’s ungrateful attitude. They perhaps are not just “being children” but exerting their wicked pride!

2) Hezekiah Humbled Himself (2 Chronicles 32:26)

Hezekiah humbled the “pride of his heart.” His change of heart evidently was due to the great calamities happening around him (perhaps threats of invasion). It seems that the people themselves were also prideful, “When they humbled themselves, and did not put their trust in their riches” (2 Chronicles 32:29), then God’s wrath was delayed.

The way to deal with pride is to acknowledge it and humble our hearts. Usually, this humbling of the heart comes from a significant change of mind that might be due to our own calamities. If we humble ourselves, we just might be able to escape God’s judgment. This is what happened here. These principles are repeatedly stated through the scriptures. Pride always leads us astray, whereas humility brings us back to the Lord. Arrogance causes us to refrain from giving the Lord His rightful glory.

Due to our sinfulness, “The only thing we deserve is judgment.” 61

A Picture of Our Wealth

One clear example of pride’s influence on our lives is found in one’s wealth. A person can easily get prideful of his/her wealth and disdain others who do not have what he or she has. Here is the pertinent warning from God:

Otherwise, you may say in your heart, “My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.” But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day (Deut 8:17-18).

Who gives wealth? The Lord. But people often think, “I did it!” Can we not see the pride in that statement? God is the one who oversees the distribution of wealth. The verse said, “He who is giving you power to make wealth.” We therefore are obligated to live accountably before Him for the wealth He gives us. Our sense of accountability is based on the knowledge that He has first given the wealth to us. He placed us in this time, this town, this family and has given us certain opportunities and education.

Our questions include:

• “How did Hezekiah humble himself?”

• “Could he have changed without outside pressure?”

• “Does God “bless” us with harsh circumstances?”

• Can we, by God’s grace, recognize our pride and turn from it before experiencing a fall? Will we?

Four Levels of Pride

Pride has different levels of severity, although they all contend with God’s glory. When we discover pride in our hearts, we need to immediately humble ourselves and follow the Lord. The

quicker we humble ourselves, the less judgment we will need to face. The four stages of pride are described below. They are given in order of increasing touches of humility, the first having no sign of humbleness.

1) Unwillingness to Turn from Pride

The highest form of pride is held by those who are unwilling to turn from it. These individuals (and nations) have such a fetish for their greatness and disdain for others that they are unwilling to humble themselves. God gives them opportunities to turn, but they remain unwilling. King Herod was such a person (Acts 12:21-23). In Revelation 16:21, men were being threatened by extremely large hailstones and should have humbled themselves, but, instead of repenting, they blasphemed God.

Those who reach this state are not intimidated by God’s warnings. There is no fear of God in them. “Moreover, he did not humble himself before the LORD as his father Manasseh had done, but Amon multiplied guilt” (2 Chronicles 33:23). Deal with pride before it rots you to the core!

2) Willing to Turn from Pride after Some Form of Judgment

The second stage of pride describes those who humble themselves only after first incurring some form of judgment. Full judgment hasn’t come. They can, however, take the hint from lesser judgments from God.

Those like King Hezekiah have been prideful and incurred God’s wrath, but the oppressive or threatening circumstances around them made them realize the evil in their heart. By God’s grace, they make a connection with their pride. As a result, they humble themselves through repentance.

Hezekiah and Judah saw their sin and humbled themselves (2 Chronicles 32:24-26).

3) Willing to Turn from Pride with Little or no Judgment

This third stage consists of those who are able to discern their budding pride, recognize its presence and humble their heart, bringing the necessary repentance and changes. It is more honorable and helpful to examine one’s own heart and humble one’s self without suffering loss. In this way, our pride and associated shame is hidden from the public. Usually, a person needs to hit hard consequences before he is willing to change his ways. A powerful sermon or the spiritual discipline of evaluating one’s ways and thoughts can help break through the delusion associated with pride.

A brother, for example, might hear the following preaching: “Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy to gloom” (James 4:9). As he hears the words, the Spirit of God convicts his heart. He opens his heart to be reshaped by God’s Word. He formerly might not have been conscious of how he had allowed his party spirit to rule his life and had not given serious thought to aiding the poor or preaching to those without Christ. So he turns from his ways and finds life. He allows God’s Word to do its effective work of developing righteous men and women of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

4) Exchange Prideful Thoughts with Humble Thoughts

This fourth stage is indeed the most ideal. We don’t allow pride to enter our hearts. The greatest joy of God’s people is to live in the power of the Spirit of God. The evil one does his best to tempt us and cause us to fall, but by valuing a humble heart and carrying out the spiritual discipline of meditation on the scriptures, we can, by His wonderful grace, see through the

temptations leading to pride and enjoy our humble lives before God. “To sum up, let all be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit” (1 Peter 3:8).

My hope for each of you is not only to reach this last level but remain there, carefully discerning your ways.

Points of Reflection

What was the lesson that impressed you the most as you learned about Hezekiah’s bout with pride (2 Chronicles 32)?

How can we properly deal with the pride stemming from the our abundance of wealth?

List the four stages of pride.

At what level of pride do you and your church normally function? Explain.